By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GettyImages.
Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had been repeatedly watered down in hopes those two countries would abstain.
The 15-member Security Council voted 11 in favor of the resolution presented by Bahrain, with two against – China and Russia – and two abstentions.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as Iran showed no sign of accepting his ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, condemned the Russian and Chinese vetoes, saying they marked “a new low” when Iran’s shutting of the Strait was preventing medical aid and supplies reaching humanitarian crises in the Congo, Sudan and Gaza.
“No one should tolerate that. They are holding the global economy at gunpoint. But today, Russia and China did tolerate it. They sided with a regime that seeks to intimidate the Gulf into submission, even as it brutalizes its own people.”
Waltz said Iran could choose “to reopen the Strait, to seek peace and to make amends.
“But until then and afterwards, we call on responsible nations to join us in securing the Strait of Hormuz, protecting it, ensuring that it remains open to lawful commerce, to humanitarian goods, and the free movement of the world’s goods,” he said.
The resolution vetoed strongly encourages states interested in the use of commercial maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate efforts, defensive in nature, commensurate with the circumstances, to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz.
The resolution also demanded that Iran immediately halt attacks on merchant and commercial vessels and stop impeding their freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian infrastructure.
The language of the resolution was significantly weakened to try to get Russia and China to abstain rather than veto it, according to The Associated Press.
The initial Gulf proposal would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” — U.N. wording that would include military action — to ensure transit through the Strait of Hormuz and deter attempts to close it.
After Russia, China and France, all veto-wielding countries on the 15-member Security Council, expressed opposition to approving the use of force, the resolution was revised to eliminate all references to offensive action. It would have authorized only “all defensive means necessary.” A vote had been expected on Saturday.
But instead, the resolution was further weakened to eliminate any reference to Security Council authorization — which is an order for action — and limit its provisions to the Strait of Hormuz. Previous drafts had included adjacent waters.
“Let me be clear — this text would only embolden the United States and the Israeli regime to continue in their unlawful actions and atrocious crime, while shielding from accountability,” Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, said following the vote.